Grinding-machine.



1.1. GILLESPIE.

GRINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION mm NOV. 6. 1914,

m w M m m 4 0 6 N M 6 3 1 FL P V m m x m M Z W0 W 1 W h UNITED STATES PATENT @TTTQE.

JOHN J'. GILLESPIE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A COR- PORATION OF NEW J EBSEY.

GRINDING-MACHINE.

Patented June a, 1918.

Application filed November 6, 1914. Serial No. 870,690.

To all whom it may concern: a

Be it known that I, JOHN J. GILLESPIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suifolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvenients in Grinding-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to grinding machines .and particularly to machines for grinding or sharpening cutting dies such as are used for dieing out blanks from sheet material. Dies of this character are used extensively in the manufacture of boots and shoes, especially for cutting out soles and uppers. I11 such operations usually the sheet of stock is supported upon a cutting block, the'die is placed in the selected position with its cutting edge resting upon the stock, and a power operated beam isthen brought into engagement wlth the upper or blunt edge of the die to force the die through the stock and cut the blank. It is important in such operations that the cutting edge of the die shall be properly 1 ground, since too long a bevel upon the edge will render the edge too easily subject to breakage and cause the die under some conditions to be forced unduly into the cutting block, While too short a bevel will prevent the die from making a clean cut through the stock. It is important also that all portions of the die be ground to the same ex tent so that the distance from the cutting edge to the blunt edge shall be constant along all portions of the blade, since any variation in this respect would necessitate that some portions of the cutting edge be forced farther into the cutting block than other portions and would thus cause thedie to stick in the block and to mar unduly the surface of the block.

Objects of this invention areto provide a machine which may be used conveniently to grind a predetermined and constant angle of bevel upon all portions of the cutting edge of a die and to grind all portions of this edge to the same extent with reference to the distance between the opposite edges, including also provision for suitable adjustments to accommodate dies of different heights andtoinsure the formation of substantially the same angle of bevel upon the blade notwithstanding the wear of the grinding member.

It will be readily understood from the following detailed description that the invention is not limited in its application to the grinding of dies of any particular shape orcharacter or to dies adapted for any particular use, nor, in fact, necessarily to the grinding of blades in the form of dies, since obviously many of the features of the invention may be employed advantageously in the grinding of tools of various shapes andforms and adapted for various uses.

The'features of the invention, including certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. a

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a machine in which the invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine showing a portion of a blade in position to be ground, and a 1 Figs. 3 and 4 show details of the guiding and positioning means for the blade.

The illustrated preferred form of the invention comprises a frame 2 which is portable and is provided with a handle a whereby the machine may be held by the operator in one hand while the die or like article is held in the other hand and presented for grinding. It should be understood, however, that if desired the machine may be secured in any convenient manner to a suitable support and used as a bench grinder, and that such use of the machine is contemplated as within the province of the invention. Pivoted at 6 to the frame 2 is a support 8 provided with a bearing or bearings 10 a for a grinding wheel 12. This wheel is comparatively thin and has a transversely curved eripheral surface, since a wheel of this orm is found particularly advantageous in grinding dies having curved blades which may be deeply concaved at portions of the surface presented for grinding. The wheel has a projecting shaft end 14 to which may be secured a flexible power transmission shaft.

In the front ofthe frame 2 is a dovetailed groove in which is mounted a slide 16 pro-- vided with a slot 18 embracing the shankof a screw 20 which is threaded in the frame.

Positioned uponthe front of the slide 16 is a bracket 22 provided with a slot 24: which also embraces the shank of the screw 20, the screw thus serving to clamp both the bracket and the slide in position upon the frame 2. The bracket 22 serves as a guide upon which to position the blunt edge of the blade and is extended to provide a hearing for a considerable portion of the blade so as to maintain the cutting edge in the same plane as it traverses the wheel. A portion of a die blade is shown at a in Fig. 2 in position for grinding. The bracket 22, by reason of the slot 24, is adjustable toward and from the wheel so as to accommodate dies of diflerent heights or blades of .the longitudinal curvature of the blade, this construction of theguide being particularly useful where a concave surface such as is presented by the reentrant portions of die blades is presented to the grinding member. The edge 28 is located in the plane of the grinding wheel so as to engage the die immediately below itspoint of contact with the wheel, and the guideor support 22 preferably is so positioned that its die supporting surface is substantially perpendicular to the edge 28 which will thus engage the lateral surface of the blade on a line substantially perpendicular to the edges of the blade and to the line of longitudinal curvature of the blade wheresuch curvature is present. The edge 28 is broken away at 30- so that the guide has substantially a twopoint bearing on the blade near the opposite edges thereof. .This insures that any surface irregularities on the intermediate portion of the blade shall haveno effect in determining the position of the blade during grinding.

The wheel 12, it will be noted, projects over the guides 22 and 26 in position to grind a bevel upon the edge of a blade presented for treatment. The wheel support 8 is formed with a rearward projection 32 provided with a homer slot to receive the shank of a screw 34Ewhich is threaded in the frame 2" and thus: serves as a stop to limit swinging movement of thesupport in the directionto carry the wheel toward the work.

A spring:36 positions the support 8 nor-v mally at the limit of movement determined by the stop 34:,but permits thev support to be swung in the opposite direction a through adjustment 1 of the stop or in response to combination with suitable adjustment of the die support 22, the wheel may be so positioned with reference to the guide 26 as to grind, within limits, the angle of bevel desired. The support 8, moreover, is so pivoted and arranged with reference to the guide 26 that as the wheel wearsaway it may be maintained by adjustment in such relation to the guide as to grind substantially :the same angle of bevel upon blades of equal width. 1

.In the use of the machine, in addition to the adjustment of the wheel 8 above explained, the guide or support .22 will be suitably positioned in accordance with the height of the die or the width of the blade which is to be ground. After the proper adjustments have been made the operator supports the machine in one hand by the handle 4 andholds the die or like article in the other hand, positioning the blunt edge and the side of the blade respectively upon the -guides22 and 26 and moving the die and the machine relatively to cause all portions of the cutting edge to traverse the wheel and to be ground to the extent permitted by the adjustment of the parts. If

it. is necessary or desirable to grind the blade to agreater extent than is permitted by the first adjustment, the guide22 may be readjusted or the screw 84 may be loosened to permit the spring36 to swing the wheel 12 slightly toward the work, and the relative traverse of the blade and the wheel may be again effected in the same manner as before. Under ordinary conditions either of these adjustments will be sufficientto insure the formation of a sharp edge on the blade without altering materially the angle of bevel; but it will be understood that in order to avoid changing the angle of bevel, if any considerable portion of the blade is to be ground away, both the adjustments should he resorted to, so as to compensate for both the wear of the wheel and the decrease in the width of the blade.

Although the invention has been explained or the .like,kthe-combination wit-Ira grinding I ting edge in position to be ground by said a being constructed to permit relative movement between the die on the one hand and said positioning means and grinding member together on the other to cause the grinding member to engage successively different portions of the cutting edge of the die.

2. In a machine for grinding cutting dies or the like, the combination with a grinding member, of means for supporting the die blade by its blunt edge to present the cutmember, and a guide for the lateral surface of the blade arranged to engage said surface near both edges of the blade.

3. In a machine for grinding cutting dies or the like, the combination with a grinding member, of guiding mean upon which to position the blunt edge of the die and with relationto which the die is movable to present different portions of its cutting edge to the grinding member, said means being constructed and arranged to maintain the cut ting edge of the die blade in the same angular relation to the grinding member, and a guide for the lateral surface of the blade having a narrow edge portion so arranged with reference to said first named guiding means as to engage the blade on a line sub stantially perpendicular to the edges of the blade.

4:. In a machine for grinding cutting dies or the like, the combination with a grinding member, of guiding means upon which to position the lateral surface of the die blade and with relation to which the die is movable to bring different portions of its cutting edge into engagement with said member, said means being formed to provide two bearing points for the blade near the opposite edges thereof in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the grinding member.

5. In a machine for grinding cutting dies or the like, the combination with a grinding member, of a guide constructed to engage an extended portionof the blunt edge of the die blade to position the cutting edge in proper angular relation to the grinding member, and a guide for the lateral surface of the blade having a die engaging edge substantially perpendicular to the die engaging portion of said first named guide.

6. A machine for grinding cutting dies or the like having, in combination, means upon which to position the blunt edge and the lateral surface of the die blade and with relation to which the die is movable during the grinding operation, and a grinding member arranged with reference to said means to grind a bevel on the cutting edge of the blade, said member and means being relatively adjustable to accommodate dies of different heights while maintaining a relation for grinding the same angle of bevel on the different dies.

7 In a-machine for grinding cutting dies or the like, the combination with a grinding member, of a pair of guides arranged to engage respectively the blunt edge and the lateral surface of the die blade to present the cutting edge of the blade in position to be ground by said member, the edge guide being adjustable with reference to the other guide to accommodate dies of different heights.

8. In a machine for grinding cutting dies or the like, a grinding wheel having a transversely curved peripheral surface, and guiding means upon which to position the die to be ground comprising a member having a narrow edge in the plane of the wheel for determining the lateral position of the die blade at its point of engagement with the wheel.

9. In a machine for grinding cutting dies or the like, the combination with a grinding member, of guiding means between which and the die there is provision for relative movement longitudinally of the die blade, said means comprising a member having a narrow edge substantially perpendicular to the line of longitudinal curvature of the blade in position to engage the lateral sur face of the blade directly opposite to that portion of the blade which is in engagement with the grinding member.

10. In a machine for grinding cutting dies or the like, the combination with a grinding wheel, of guiding means arranged to be engaged by the blunt edge and the lateral surface of the die blade and with relation to which the die is movable to bring different portions of its cutting edge successively into engagement with the wheel, said wheel and the guiding means being relatively arranged to cause the wheel to grind a bevel on the cutting edge of the die, and a support for the grinding wheel arranged for adjustment to present the wheel, as its diameter decreases through wear, in position to grind substantially the same angle of bevel on the die.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination with positioning means for the work, of a grinding member, a support for said member mounted for swinging movement to carry the member toward or from the work, means for limiting movement of the support in the direction to carry the member toward the work, and resilient means for opposing movement of the support in the opposite direction.

12. In a machine of the class described, the combination with positioning means for the work, of a grinding member, a support for said member mounted for swinging movement to carry the member toward or from the worlgan adjustable stop for-variably limiting movement of the support in the direction to carry the member toward the work, and a spring arranged to position the support normally at the limit of movement determined by the stop.

13. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a portable frame, a handle whereby the frame may be supported, a grinding wheelcarried by the frame, a connection for applying power to the wheel, and means on the frame arranged With reference to the grinding wheel to positiona die blade or the like with its cutting edge in engagement withthe periphery of the Wheel.

14. In a grinding apparatus, the combi nation with a grinding member, of a guide member having a narrow edge toengage the lateral surface of a blade to be ground, the

guide edge extending transversely of the blade and said guide and blade being movable relatively to one another in the grinding operation, the narrowness of the guide tending to insure an invariable lateral position of the blade at the point of grinding irrespective of its curvature.

15. In a grinding apparatus, the combination with a grinding member, of a plurality of guide members, the guide members and object to be ground being movable relatively to one another in the grinding operation, and means constructed and arranged to permit the guide members to be independently adjusted.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN J. GILLESPIE.

Witnesses:

HOWARD O. WINSLOW, ARTHUR L. RUSSELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washlngton, D. 0; 

